Friday, September 16, 2005

Betty

After being very hot and muggy on Wednesday, we got a big rain. This morning it is cool and nice outside. I think fall may be my favorite season. Toby would say that I say that about all of the seasons. Maybe I just like change.

I am headed over to Wichita today. Dad has been very weak for a long time. It wears on Mom. Although he is able to go to coffee every day, it gets harder and harder. Mom has been using the wheel chair with Dad more and more. It ties her to the house. I don’t think that is the hardest part for her. Because Dad cannot hear very well even with his hearing aids, communication is difficult. Also Dad’s thought process is sometimes just not what it used to be. That is hard on all of us, but especially Mom. She has been great through this whole thing. It is Mom that needs encouragement from time to time.

Last week one of her good friends, Betty Yeager died. Betty had MS for years, but she loved to go to Red River and stay in the old family cabin. She had good years and bad years with her MS, but she was always a trooper. Mom would do her hair and take her to Taos. They had a blast together giggling and laughing like school girls. Betty had a sharp sense of humor and a great outlook on life even when her body would not do what she needed it to do. The last few years that Mom and Dad were able to go to RR, they spent lots of time with Betty and her husband, Hal. Sometimes Mom and Hal would have to push Betty and Dad in wheel chairs to get them to some eating place or do something fun. They were a silly foursome. They cooked meals for each other, and Hal would fix up a batch of mean margaritas. Then they would all sit out on the big porch of Hal’s cabin drinking the margaritas and hollering at people who passed by.

I will miss Betty, as I know Mom will. Her strength and humor were an inspiration to all.